LaMarr Woodley wears the same number as Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor (56). Now, the second-year talent wants to borrow some of Taylor's famed pass-rushing moves.

"A guy I really want to study is Lawrence Taylor. He was just a dominant pass rusher to me," said Woodley, who makes his first career start for the Steelers on Sunday in their season opener against Houston at Heinz Field.

Woodley knows his way to the quarterback. He picked up four sacks in limited action as a rookie, bagging two more in the playoff game against Jacksonville and making it a no-brainer the Steelers would jettison veteran linebacker Clark Haggans and give the job to Woodley.

A second-round draft pick out of Michigan, Woodley's 50 1/2 career stops behind the line of scrimmage rank second in school history. Woodley, 23, may be the Steelers youngest starter, but he has a keen sense of history.

"I always wanted to see a highlight tape of Lawrence Taylor. From him being double teamed, and he's still out there getting the job done," Woodley said. "The way he talked on the field. He was a trash talker, but he got his defense going. That's what I really like about him."

The first great pass rusher at outside linebacker, Taylor amassed 132 1/2 career sacks with the New York Giants, racking up 10 or more sacks each season from 1984-1990.

"When you see a guy like that in the Hall of Fame, he didn't do it for one year, he did it for years," Woodley said. "You've got to wonder what this guy did to consistently get after quarterbacks."

Woodley wants to become the type of defender teams must always account for, collapsing pockets and pressuring quarterbacks. He lines up on the left side, opposite Pro Bowl linebacker James Harrison, who led the Steelers with 8 1/2 sacks in 2007.

Woodley needs to make Texans quarterback Matt Schaub aware of him at all times. The more pressure the Steelers can apply to Schaub the better their chances are of winning.

And the more times Woodley gets to try out one of his moves.

"I don't really have a favorite. I do a little bit of everything. What you feel like doing, that's your pass rush. It's a reaction-type thing," Woodley said.

"You only need a few moves as a pass rusher. A lot of guys have speed to get upfield, make that offensive lineman kick back. Sometimes when that lineman kicks back too far they give up the inside. Then, when they're thinking about you going inside, maybe you've got the outside, and you want to do a spin technique. Then, you also have the bull rush -- that's another move.

"You don't need that many moves to get to the quarterback. You just have to change it up here and there."

Woodley is quick and elusive enough to turn the corner and strong enough to overpower a blocker in his path to the quarterback. Now, if he could find that Lawrence Taylor tape, there may be no stopping him.

John Harris is a sports writer for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jharris@tribweb.com or 412-481-5

Ozey74

09-06-2008, 07:02 AM

As long as he doesn't try to imitate LT off the field, I'll be happy!

Shawn

09-06-2008, 10:10 AM

Wha? A LB can't enjoy a lil crack?

fordfixer

09-06-2008, 10:15 AM

Wha? A LB can't enjoy a lil crack?

It's just not right when your LB has to go powder his nose :lol:

RuthlessBurgher

09-07-2008, 12:22 AM

Wha? A LB can't enjoy a lil crack?

Lawrence Taylor: "Tell me, what is your secret? How do you find yourself in the right position all the time?"

Bobby Boucher: "That-That-That's a good question. Wh-What-What happens is, the-the-the center ha-has the ball first. And-And-And the quarterback will say, 'Hike.' That's when the c-center puts the ball in-into the hands of-of the quarterback. So, what I do is, I-I start tacklin' the quarterback, un-unless he gives the ball to-to s-somebody else, in which case, I-I try to tackle that person."